As the population continues to age and pharmaceutical companies continue to develop more medications for illnesses, it is inevitable that the distribution points for such medications must become more efficient. From large, mail order fulfillment centers that fill tens of millions of prescriptions annually, to national drug store chains to local pharmacies, automation has greatly affected the speed, efficiency and accuracy of prescription distribution.
It is not surprising that automation results in greater profitability for wholesale and retail pharmacy business owners. Reducing manual operations results in lower payrolls, fewer interruptions in workflow, and greater production predictability. In addition, much human error associated with manually filling prescriptions is eliminated. Therefore, the fewer required manual operations and human operators, the more efficient and error-free are prescription fulfillment operations.
With the development of highly accurate robotic mechanisms, including sophisticated hardware and software control systems, servo motors and the like, there should be little need for human operators to perform some of the repetitive tasks still found in pharmacies.
While robotics have been applied to large-scale vial filling operations, heretofore such robotic techniques have not been combined with built-in prescription entry and check features within small, stand-alone units suitable for use in small size pharmacies.
What is needed in modern pharmacies and prescription fulfillment centers is an automated pill, tablet and capsule dispensing system that incorporates robotic mechanisms therein to ensure fast and accurate operations.